Rating: 
Summary: A Rather Admiring Account
Review: Having read much about Hitler and Nazi Germany, I must admit this is one of the more flattering biographies of the man ever written. While, the sheer volume of the work, as well as it's rare photographs are impressive, one cannot help but walk away from this tome with the impression that Toland genuinely admired Hitler. For some insightful criticism of Toland's approach, including debunking of some of his "facts", read Lukac's "The Hitler of History"
Rating: 
Summary: A Realistic View of Hitler
Review: Historian John Toland attempts what few have successfully managed to do with this difficult subject; to write a truthful and fairly unbiased biography of Hitler.
Toland conducted interviews with people who personally knew Hitler, several of them opening up for the first
time on the subject.
Toland acknowledges when any of his sources, such as personal interviewees, may be biased.
Prior to this the most thorough and readable work on the subject was William Shirer's RISE & FALL OF THE THIRD REICH.
William Shirer had a very personal style of writing, unlike dry historians such as Trevor-Roper.
Toland's style is nearly as personal, yet isn't as caught up in the moment as Shirer, and with a strong ability to connect leads he is able to clarify previously sketchy accounts such as who really started the Reichstag fire.
Though more documents have been declassified since the writing of this book, Toland had a better time sorting through information perhaps than Shirer, who had to wade through mountains of unsorted papers in a limited time frame.
Toland often refers to Shirer's incisive personal observations of Hitler at key moments (when Shirer was a foriegn correspondant in Germany).
Toland assembles many vivid on the scene descriptions to give us a realistic portrait of the actual man, with all his flaws and facets that I had not grasped from Shirer.
Many of the commonly held myths are dispelled, and one comes away with a better understanding of who Hitler really was rather than a false impression based on rumors.
If we're going to argue with revisionists, or discuss intelligently with those who know a great deal or very little about nazism, then this tome is an excellent crash course.
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Hitler
Review: Historian John Toland's "Adolf Hitler" stands as the greatest of the many works that have been published about the 20th Century's most fascinating and diabolical leader. Toland doesn't content himself by merely reporting the facts, rather he makes a real effort to get inside the man's head and determine how he came to be such an explosive package of brilliance and insanity. The story of Hitler the man is so improbable that had this been a work of fiction, no one would have found it plausible. He was a self-man who, against all odds, seized absolute power in a Europe in which until his own adulthood, heredity usually dictated one's station in life.Though daunting at over 100 pages, Toland has a good stroytelling touch, making the book quite readble. Toland thoroughly chronicles Hitler's life, from his abused upbrining, through his service in the First World War, to his rise as a young politician, and finally his seizure of power and all the evil that followed. The book is generously sprinkled with photographs and other illustratins to help the reader. Overall, an outstanding historical biography that is as monumental as its subject.
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Hitler
Review: Historian John Toland's "Adolf Hitler" stands as the greatest of the many works that have been published about the 20th Century's most fascinating and diabolical leader. Toland doesn't content himself by merely reporting the facts, rather he makes a real effort to get inside the man's head and determine how he came to be such an explosive package of brilliance and insanity. The story of Hitler the man is so improbable that had this been a work of fiction, no one would have found it plausible. He was a self-man who, against all odds, seized absolute power in a Europe in which until his own adulthood, heredity usually dictated one's station in life. Though daunting at over 100 pages, Toland has a good stroytelling touch, making the book quite readble. Toland thoroughly chronicles Hitler's life, from his abused upbrining, through his service in the First World War, to his rise as a young politician, and finally his seizure of power and all the evil that followed. The book is generously sprinkled with photographs and other illustratins to help the reader. Overall, an outstanding historical biography that is as monumental as its subject.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I am currently in the middle of this rather large book and am thoroughly fascinated with the both the historical and personal aspects of Mr. Toland's writing. I am recommending the book to others who, like me, may not appreciate all that Hitler represented to Germans and other Europeans and why his rise to power happened as it did. I see the book as a strong reminder of the need to involve oneself in the matters of civil life and the delicate balance between government and citizenry. I thank Mr. Toland for his detailed, yet objectively reported, inclusion of the personal details of Hitler's life. From these facts an individual can form their own thoughts about the evolution of this horrid piece of modern history. Hitler and the swastika are disturbing imagery in the current world yet, I feel it is by educating oneself on this dreadful history we are most able to protect ourselves from its reoccurrence. Mr. Toland makes this possible with a thoroughly human portrayal of the real Hitler.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly readable & compelling.
Review: I had some misgivings about delving so deeply into the foreboding world of Adolph Hitler, fearing perhaps that knowing about all the minutiae of a protagonist whose legacy still conjures up such dreadful revulsion might imbue him with qualities that could make him seem "regular", or God forbid, even sympathetic. The book is an exhaustive work of nearly 1,000 pages, though it is thoroughly engrossing and the time passed quickly thanks to Toland's great literary talent.
What emerges is a rather non-editorialized look at an improbable man who happened to have been endowed with some talents and considerable single-mindedness at exactly the right (or wrong) time and place to "blossom". The reader comes away with an understanding of Germany between the wars and hopefully with an appreciation of the great importance that must be placed on treaties not as a means to end one conflict but rather to avoid another. Of course, I do not excuse what happened, but it is clear that National Socialism grew all too well in the bitter agar of Versailles.
Aside from Hitler, his most intimate circle is well developed, including Himmler, Goebbels, Goring & Eva Braun. Occasional glances at Mussolini, Franco and others add more depth. His conflicts with the General Staff progress throughout the book, and they are the mirror into which Corporal Hitler cannot stand to gaze. The more things go astray, the more grotesque the image he sees becomes, and naturally he is sure it is the looking glass, not himself, that is responsible.
This book did not make me see Hitler as more or less of a human being; he remains what he was, a destroyer of people, most especially of his own people. It is no small irony that his last dictation in the bunker makes no apologies for the 6 million Jews he murdered, but rather predicts that he will one day be celebrated for it throughout the world. Instead, his acts brought down the German state and spawned the Jewish state that without him might not yet have come into being.
Rating:
Summary: Best biograpy on Hitler, bar none
Review: I had the opportunity of corresponding and meeting John Toland when I was a teenager and he was a remarkable man and a great writer. This is by far the best and most readable biography ever written on Hitler. Toland eschews, thankfully, the ridiculous psycho-babble which ruins many other major Hitler biographies. Toland interviewed over 300 people close to Hitler: Tradul Junge, his secretary, Max Wunsche and Richard Schultze, his adjutants, Eva Braun's best friend and many others. He went to the source and his oral interviews constitute a tremendous historical resource. Toland shows that Hitler was sexually normal, which is important since Hitler's supposed "deviant sexuality" is the lynchpin of many inferior books. If you are to read one book about Adolf Hitler, make it this one. Nothing better has come down the pike in the 25 years since this books publication. For anyone interested in the history of the 20th century and World War II, this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: A comprihansive guide to Hitler
Review: I have been reading about Hitler now for 15 years and allmost 40 diffrent book on the subject, and this book is one best I've read on Hitler and Germany.
Rating:
Summary: Good first biography
Review: I read this book behind Mein Kampf (MK) in 1991. I was 16 then, and much of what was in MK was confusing and hard to understand. Hitler meant MK to be read by adherents to the Nazi party and, therefore, those people would know the history behind what was written in the book. John Toland does a wonderful job in writing an easily accessible and understandable biography for the person who is just beginning to study this complex era in our world's history. His research is well documented throughout the book, and one can get a good sense of what Hitler was like and how life was under his rule from 1933-1945. Also, this book gives a good insight into the men and women who supported the National Socialist movement and how their influence dictated the rise and fall of the Third Reich. One can easily find themselves studying other influential people in Hitler's circle as well as Hitler himself. Toland does a very good job of not painting a judgemental picture of the subject of which he is writing about.
I would highly recommend this tome for anyone who is interested in learning the basic information regarding Hitler and the Third Reich. (Of course, it should be no substitute for Mein Kampf. If you want to know what Hitler was thinking....why not read his own words for yourself?)
Rating:
Summary: Good first biography
Review: I read this book behind Mein Kampf (MK) in 1991. I was 16 then, and much of what was in MK was confusing and hard to understand. Hitler meant MK to be read by adherents to the Nazi party and, therefore, those people would know the history behind what was written in the book. John Toland does a wonderful job in writing an easily accessible and understandable biography for the person who is just beginning to study this complex era in our world's history. His research is well documented throughout the book, and one can get a good sense of what Hitler was like and how life was under his rule from 1933-1945. Also, this book gives a good insight into the men and women who supported the National Socialist movement and how their influence dictated the rise and fall of the Third Reich. One can easily find themselves studying other influential people in Hitler's circle as well as Hitler himself. Toland does a very good job of not painting a judgemental picture of the subject of which he is writing about.
I would highly recommend this tome for anyone who is interested in learning the basic information regarding Hitler and the Third Reich. (Of course, it should be no substitute for Mein Kampf. If you want to know what Hitler was thinking....why not read his own words for yourself?)
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